Field Experiments (RCTs)

Building Socio-emotional Skills

I initiated this large-scale project in 2012 with the aim of implementing and evaluating two unique educational programs in Istanbul, Turkey. The main objective of these programs is to improve key socio-emotional skills in elementary school children in the classroom environment, thereby offer cost effective policy actions to mitigate the gender and socio-economic achievement gaps observed in many countries. The first program targeted patience and self-control in children; see the evaluation results in “Fostering Patience in the Classroom: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention"

The second program targeted grit and perseverance in children; see the evaluation results in “Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit” 

and in

“Mitigating the Gender Gap in the Willingness to Compete: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment”.

Building Social Cohesion in Ethnically Mixed Schools: An Intervention on Perspective Taking

Since the beginning of the Syrian War in 2011, Turkey has received over 3.5 million Syrian refugees, including nearly 1 million children. Syrian refugee children face social exclusion and in-school violence. Socially excluded individuals are less likely to exhibit prosocial attributes. These outcomes may justify even further social exclusion and intergroup violence. This study evaluates a unique educational intervention that aims to facilitate integration. Short-term evaluation results are available now: “Building Social Cohesion in Ethnically Mixed Schools: An Intervention on Perspective Taking”. AEA RCT Registry: AEARCTR-0003974.

Nurturing Childhood Curiosity to Enhance Learning: A randomized Pedagogical Intervention

We evaluate a pedagogical intervention that aims to improve the learning quality of elementary school children by nurturing their curiosity. The pedagogy, aimed primarily at science teaching, was practiced by children's teachers for an entire academic year. We test the effectiveness of this pedagogy using objective test scores and a novel measure of curiosity. The measure involves first creating a sense of information deprivation, then quantifying the urge to acquire information and the ability to retain information. We find that the intervention increases curiosity, the ability to retain knowledge, and science test scores. The intervention also makes friendship networks a more potent tool to disseminate knowledge within classrooms. Our research design establishes the causal link between the urge to know and deep learning. The results of the paper can help design better pedagogical tools to increase pupil and teacher engagement and the quality of learning worldwide. Results are available now: “Nurturing Childhood Curiosity to Enhance Learning: A Randomized Pedagogical Intervention“ AEA RCT Registry: AEARCTR-0003957.

Improving Workplace Climate: A Clustered Randomized Intervention

We evaluate the impact of a training program aimed at improving the relational atmosphere in the workplace. The program encourages prosocial behavior and the use of professional language, focusing primarily on leaders' behavior and leader-subordinate interactions. We implement this program using a clustered randomized design involving over 3000 headquarters employees of 20 large corporations in Turkey. We evaluate the program with respect to employee separation, pro and antisocial behavior, the prevalence of support networks, and perceived workplace climate. We find that treated firms have a lower likelihood of employee separation at the leadership level, fewer employees lacking professional and personal help, and denser, less segregated support networks. We also find that employees in treated corporations are less inclined to engage in toxic competition, exhibit higher reciprocity toward each other, and report higher workplace satisfaction and a more collegial environment. The program's success in improving leader-subordinate relationships emerges as a likely mechanism to explain these results. Treated subordinates report higher professionalism and empathy in their leaders and are more likely to consider their leaders as professional support providers. AEA Registry: AEARCTR-0007532.

Paper forthcoming in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Transforming School Climate in Post-Primary Schools

In this project, we aim to test the effectiveness of a unique program that aims to improve the school climate in socioeconomically disadvantaged post-primary schools. Evaluation results are coming soon.